This film really surprised me, it's got a lot of heart. It's a great little story packed with so much drama I needed tissues constantly. There were so much sad scenes and heartbreaking situations it really spoke to me even though I couldn't relate to the character.
It's an intelligent dive into life in the suburbs that I had no idea about or even cared to think about. It delves into topics that people are scared to discuss such as racism, drug addiction and violence. For the running time it loses marks for rushing through drug montages and trying to cram so much in and I'm not a fan of the C word at all. The characters were all very interesting and felt very real, almost like they existed in the outer western suburbs of Sydney. I was genuinely frightened in some scenes and just made me feel uncomfortable. The film starts with a punch literally a few minutes in and then takes you through a journey. There are so many lovely moments I enjoyed in the film and even some moments of comic relief that left all of us laughing. All the actors were fantastic, and the music was so very touching, soothing and gentle.
There is a lot of talent in this film, most Australian productions have bigger budgets but don't have this much talent wrapped up in one film, The lead, the guy playing Gazza was just terrorizing, the best friend Kyle - just a heartbreaking performance and the guy who plays Vic, a homeless man who steals our hearts as an addicted man whose also part time lawnmower.
The film tries to sell you it's a "gangster" film but it's much more articulate and succinct than that. There's a lot going on in the head of that director because there are so many themes here to explore like death and loss, cultural identity and assimilation. Then there's friendship breakup, family, immigration and even spirituality / religion. Too much for one film? - I'll let you decide.
I'll finish by saying - you won't know what hit you with this film, if you want a really good story better than a lot of these Hollywood tentpole films with big actors and very little story - go and see Streets of Colour - you will walk like I did, an emotional mess and pleasantly surprised. - P. S - Bring lots of tissues.
